The University of California San Diego Library has embarked on new international agreements with two academic libraries— Fudan University Library in Shanghai, China and the Göttingen State and University Library in Germany.
“Sharing knowledge, expertise, and collections with our library counterparts in Asia and Europe benefits our respective scholarly communities in diverse ways,” said Brian E. C. Schottlaender, The Audrey Geisel University Librarian at UC San Diego. “I greatly appreciate the interest and cooperation of my colleagues at Fudan University Library and Göttingen State and University Library in bringing these agreements to fruition. We look forward to the positive and productive collaborations ahead.”
The agreement with Fudan University Library, which was signed on October 8, 2016, builds on existing collaborations between UC San Diego and Fudan University, including a Fudan-University of California center based at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. The Library’s agreement calls for UC San Diego to send a librarian to the Fudan Library on an annual basis to conduct workshops for library school students on relevant library services and information management topics. It also ensures that visiting scholars, librarians, and library school students will have free access to each library’s information resources.
On November 4, 2016, the UC San Diego Library finalized a three-year agreement with the Göttingen State and University Library, paving the way for regular library staff exchanges that will focus on sharing knowledge and expertise in areas such as research data management, digital archiving, and information technology. The exchange program will begin in winter 2017 and will enable library staff members to visit each other’s library to observe, engage in discussions, and leverage their respective areas of expertise for mutual benefit and growth.